


Father, Addâd, Ada

by GummyBear22



Category: The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 06:00:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12550732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GummyBear22/pseuds/GummyBear22
Summary: Short stories centralized on the father and son relationships of Middle Earth, taking place in the modern world.





	Father, Addâd, Ada

Gimli swung his legs back, and forth, and back, and forth, his toes barely touching the ground. Clutched in his hands was the morning's newspaper, fresh from the press, making black smudges on his chubby hands but he didn't mind. The news about Smaug's corrupted governance on the other side of the world, or the up and rising Shire Rockies led by Frodo Swaggins and his band were brushed aside, Gimli simply wanted to find a coupon or two for a free ice-cream from McDonalds. The last page was a splash of colours compared to the black and white prints, The Lonely Mountain Splash Waterpark was offering a deal, buy two adult tickets and your child goes free. Gimli took some time to digest the information before it hit him, two adults would be his father and mother, and he was a child. His eyes widened in delight and the grip on the newspaper tightened, causing creases to form on the thin paper.

Mael's own parents always told her she was like a duck to water, literally. She loved swimming and she loved the feeling of floating in the water, she felt as if she was a feather drifting in the air. Apparently Gimli had inherited her love for rectangular holes lined with tiles and filled with water, so it wasn't surprising when one day her son came running to her room with his stubby legs waving the newspaper, and she didn't surprise herself when she agreed wholeheartedly to spend the following day at the waterpark. However, it was surprising that Gloin agreed to go, albeit reluctantly, since he had a project that had to be completed by the following day. Mael wasn't going to complain though, Gloin stayed home far too much these days. 

Gimli's face glowed bright red as it tended to be when he was excited and he chatted as he and Mael packed ham sandwiches, buffulo wings, bacon (they all loved meat) and some juice for Gimli. "Addâd! Let's go! Hurry up!" Gimli shouted wringing the hem of his Power Rangers t-shirt with impatience. Gloin grunted as he tried to type as fast as he could, determined to finish that paragraph. He muttered a curse under his breath when he mistyped, careful not to let his wife or Gimli hear. Reluctantly he shut down the laptop and casting a longing look at the device, he went out the door to join his family.

Mael struggled to strap an excited bundle of seven year old into the car booster seat because Gimli was squirming so much in his excitement. When he was finally strapped securely and Mael was certain he could not unbuckle the safety belt without help, she got into the passenger seat as Gloin hurried towards the driver's seat and settled himself in. She was glad to see Gloin out of the house or office, since he took on this new job he had been working day and night, such was his desire to please his boss. Already, he seemed more relaxed and Mael beamed, finally some quality family time together. Just as they were about to drive off, Gloin's phone rang.  
"But I'm on leave today!"  
"You can't just call me and expect me to be there!"  
"Are you sure it can't wait?"  
Gimli and Mael stood in the parking lot clutching the picnic basket as Gloin drove off, Gimli's eyes brimmed with tears as Mael stared sadly at the empty lot, Gloin's words still ringing in their ears, "I'm sorry, another day?"

Gloin pushed up his heavy glasses and squinted at the small words on the newspaper. He was getting older, not a senior citizen yet, but he was definitely past his prime. Fortunately newspaper quality got better as technology improved so the ink wasn't as smudged as it used to before. He looked up to see Mael hanging up some holly around the house and smiled to himself, he loved Christmas, it was his favorite time of the year, everything just seemed magical though it didn't snow in the place they lived. It was a time when presents were given (and received, Gloin hoped he would get one too), when carols were sung, when friends and family came together... Speaking of family, he noticed that one member of their small family was missing. This missing member was soon found as Gimli strolled out of the room, headphones over his ears. Gloin looked back at the newspaper and found an advertisement staring back at him, "Hey Mael, there's a Christmas light up along Lorien street, apparently they have set up 'the biggest lighted up Christmas tree the city has ever seen', wanna go?" Mael nodded her head excitedly, her head of brown curls with a few strands of grey bobbing up and down, and her face crinkled with merriment, there were definitely more crinkles now Gloin admitted to himself. "Gimli?" His son blinked and slid his headphones down to his neck, "Huh?" "Would you like to come with mama and I to see the Christmas light up?" Gimli hesitated, "Sorry Addâd, I... I gotta meet a friend... like now. It's really urgent." Gloin watched his son shove his feet into a dirty pair of sneakers and as he hurried out the door, he stopped and turned to face his father, "I'm really sorry, another day?"

Later that day, Mael had tasked Gloin with the job of buying some groceries as she was going to her sister's house. Gloin shuffled out of the house and decided he felt like walking to the supermarket, since he wasn't getting much exercise lately. As he walked, he jiggled the coins in his pocket lost in thought, Gimli's words that morning haunted him more than he wanted to admit, his son sounded like... well... him. When Gimli shut the door, the events so long ago flooded back to him as if it only happened yesterday, perhaps he deserved it. A sharp pang of regret shot through him as he recalled himself saying the exact same words to his family as he drove off towards the office. He remembered feeling guilt gnawing at his heart during the entire meeting, he remembered Gimli's teary eyes occupying all his thoughts as Thorin explained the plan to beat Mirkwood Trading. And he remembered, that they never did go to The Lonely Mountain Splash Waterpark.

Gimli made his way back from Legolas' house, apparently all the little piece of poop wanted was for someone to teach him how to do question seven on the Math practice paper. Had he never heard of WhatsApp, or that WhatsApp had the amazing ability of sending a picture? Gimli huffed to himself as he walked towards the bus stop, he kind of regretted rejecting his father's invitation for something that was hardly a 'crisis', as how Legolas had put it. Gimli sighed and sat heavily on the bench at the bus stop, he seemed to be shutting his parents out more and more each day and he felt bad about it, he was busy everyday, or was he? Gimli felt shame burn in his stomach when he recalled watching YouTube videos while his mother tried to persuade him to watch a movie with Gloin and herself, true it was a family drama movie, he would have preferred a Sci-fi or horror film, but wasn't family more important? His thoughts trailed off as someone sat beside him.

Both beings had bushy red beards which covered half their face though one was obviously older than the other. They sat next to each other lost in thought until the younger of the two looked up and blinked in surprise, "Addâd?" Gloin shook himself out of his memories and turned to see a stunned Gimli looking back at him. "Oh, hey Gim." The two stared at each other neither saying a word, creating an awkward silence. Gimli started to swing his legs, back, and forth, and back, and forth. Gloin casted a glance at his son, this was no longer the small boy who could bounce on his lap and have piggy back rides when his legs were tired, in its place a teen who could make his own decisions and live his own life. Clearing his throat to get his son's attention, he attempted to start some sort of conversation, "So.. how was your meeting with your friend?" Gimli shrugged, "He didn't want anything much, just wanted to know how to do a question from our homework."  
"That's all?"  
"Yeah."  
Silence. "I used to have a friend like that." "Really?"  
"Mmhm. He called me to his house almost everyday to help him with his homework, and the moment I reached home, I'll get another phone call from him asking how to do the next part of the question."  
Gimli chuckled, he was probably Legolas' ancestor.  
"Hey Gim."  
"Yes Addâd?"  
"Is The Lonely Mountain Splash Waterpark still open?"  
"Yes...why?"  
"Wanna go?"  
"What? Oh... well... I might be too old but... okay sure! When?"  
"Today."  
"Today?!"  
Gloin smiled and stood up as the bus approached, "Today."


End file.
